


splinter|glitch

by orphan_account



Series: Cornerstones [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: AU, For Want of a Nail, Gen, I haven't seen KHR or read the manga in forever okay don't judge me, Pre-Canon, Redemption, Universe Alteration (literally), kinda sorta peggy sue-ish, playing loose with canon, trinisett headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 08:05:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4599147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all the worlds he had been to before, Byakuran had never encountered this.</p><p>In which not all Byakuran's are evil. AU, preface to larger series.</p><p>[Mare Set Arc]</p>
            </blockquote>





	splinter|glitch

The thing about alternate universes is that there is an infinite number of them that are more often than not almost exactly the same. A butterfly flaps it's wings in one world, and the same thing happens in the next, maybe only a quarter of a degree or a nano-second off the first butterfly in that first world. Or maybe the butterfly is a wasp, or a moth. Each world is connected through parralel lines, always running side by side, somtimes touching, but never crossing.

Byakuran is the GM of the game of life. In his hands he holds not only the infinite knowledge of infinite universes, but the universes themselves. He blinks, wishes, thinks, and one world (route a) combines with another (route b). He changes history to his whim. He calls forth the aid of his alters. He comes, sees, conquers. Thousands of worlds lie fallen behind him. Infinite worlds await his arrival.

But another things about alternate worlds, universes, existences - is that sometimes there is a blip. A cough, a burp, a hiccup, in the great cosmic plan. Sometimes the metaphyscial ones and zeros that form the multiple realities of Byakuran's game _glitch_. It is an annoyance to Byakuran, _the_ player, the only one he's encountered so far in worlds of nothing but NPCs, that he can't see these glitches coming, can't plan for them, can't avoid them. For though he has the ability to draw on the knowledge and abilites of his alters, he can only see that which has already passed, not that which will come to pass. Even he must bow to the whims of Time, for his corner of the Trinisett governs over something else entirely, and sometimes that leads to troubles like _this_ world.

It had seemed safe enough, similar enough to his last world that he could plan carefully and know what to expect. There would be an adorable Yuni-chan, there was a cute Tsunayoshi-kun, and a clever Sho-chan. The three constants he could always count on in some ways in all worlds, the almost players that were intrinsic parts of his beloved game's code. His party members, if you will, even if they sometimes stood against him.

But there was always one other constant Byakuran encountered in every world - himself. He'd never really given himself much thought, funnily enough. They might be alter, be Other, but they were still him, and when he explained his plans, his motives, they always said yes. They were him, the same, why would they disagree with him/themselves?

But just because a world is similar on the surface doesn't mean a thing. For each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Each world has it's on laws, it's own code written uniquely into it's makeup. So for all the Byakuran's who desired world domination, universal control, there would always be one who wanted the opposite.

It was bizarre, Byakuran mused as he stared at the flinty, younger eyes of this worlds alternate self, to see such disaproval in what amounted to little more than a mirror.

After all, even if this one had decided that he did not yet desire domination, he was, at heart, Byakuran Gesso, and some personality traits tied to that name are true universal constants.

"No?" he said out loud.

His younger alternate nodded firmly. "No," he confirmed. "I think you should leave."

 _This world_ , went unsaid.

"You know I will destroy this world once I leave," he cautioned, silky-smooth and lethal. "If it will not bow to me, I cannot allow it to exist." Destroying this world would be easy. Apart from the Arcobaleno, no-one of this world had yet to take up the Trinisett. Tsuanyoshi had never even heard of the Vongola rings, and Yuni wasn't even born yet. The cornerstones of the Trinisett, the Sky Guardians of each clan had yet to lay claim to their inheritance, and he was grown and in possession of the Mare Sky ring. He'd simply have to blur this world's line into the next's. "Are you sure you will not join me?"

A dark glint flickered to life in the younger of the two, akin to a flame. It caught the older Byakuran off guard, but he recovered fast, and hid his mounting horror. "I see," he murmured. "You're a glitch."

In all his worlds, Byakuran had never encountered himself as a glitch. He'd been the untouchable man behind the game, the chessmaster, a magnificent bastard if there had ever been one. He'd seen dark and violent Tsunayoshi's who thrived within the mafia, Yuni's who had died before he found her and were little more than bones under a headstone. Glitches were amusing twists in the game, not necessarily bad things, just things that he could exploit. But this glitch was him. Even if it was a defunct, faulty him, it was him, and it would not fall for it's own machinations.

"You are not welcome here," his young alter said. The Mare ring burned tight, flashed bright, on the elder's finger. The spirit of the sky that burned endless within both of them flooded with the purest orange Byakuran had ever encountered with in any of his alternate selves. "You cannot have this world, me," he said. "This world has been claimed by Balance. _And I will protect it_."

Orange razed down into ash; soot black, as he was forcefully repelled from that world and into the next. The ring on his finger _splintered_ , and Byakuran snarled. The Vongola rings dealt with Time, and as each world had it's own seperate time, each world had it's own unique rings. The Arcobaleno pacifiers were eternal and everlasting, passing easily between Worlds and Time as they pleased. However, there was only one set of Mare rings. The ring he held was the only one, and the glitch that wore his face was laying claim to it, in the name of damnable balance.

 _And it was working_. Byakuran, conqueror of a thousand worlds, the man who had lived infinite lives, was losing to a child. This world was on the child's side, was working alongside it, for some reason - _claimed by Balance_.

His eyes widened. "The Trinisett...it's made its move?"

He laughed as he lost the struggle, and the ring moved to it's new master. "That's great!" he said happily as he was assimilated into his alternate self. "A new stage to the game, new players! I can't wait, Tsunayoshi-kun, Yuni-chan! I can't wait!"

Byakuran Gesso, aged eight years old, blinked slowly, breathed deeply, and sighed as the one who was him settled and melded into his memories.

The ring was his now. He held a cornerstone of the balance with him now, and as he opened up his soul to the Mare Sky, he felt it place it's mark on his spirit.

He was now an irreversible, irrevocable piece in the Trinisett system.

And the second would soon fall into place. "Tsunayoshi-kun," he tried out loud. "Tsuna."

He would bring the Vongola Sky to it's rightful master. And then, they would wait for their Trio to be complete.

 

|tbc|


End file.
